15 weeks. Every weekend. A 10km. Whatever the weather – and believe me some of it was shocking, I still did it. 15 weeks. Every weekend, a 10km.
And then, one weekend, I couldn’t. After a lovely 5km run, I had to pull up short as my right calf was telling me to stop. I tried a few more steps, thinking I might shake the pain but to no avail. I had to stop. Stop. My dreams of another consecutive weekend 10km were gone.
Running injuries
I hobbled back home, trying to keep the weight off my right leg whilst testing it out every so often with a stretch. After a few days, my calf started to feel better and I had time to reflect on a few lessons learnt.
1. It was good to stop when I did
Pain in your body tells you something so you should pay attention and listen. For me, it was my right calf and to prevent further injury I had to stop regardless of my broken dream of consecutive 10km runs. Your wellbeing and health are too important and the less damage you do, the sooner recovery kicks in. Getting regular checkups and having any niggles looked into is always the best idea. You know your body best and when something is up, you usually know. Go see someone, get it checked and follow the advice given.
2. Rest & relaxation
It’s so tempting to carry on but the impacted part of the body needs rest. I kept the weight off my leg (as much as possible), not easy when you need to move around a bit! Putting a cold press on it and then gently rubbing the muscle to ease out the ‘knot’/’strain’ also can work. There are also various lotions you can get on the market to help with muscle aches – my go-to is tiger balm if you can take its pungent smell!
3. Stretching and foam rolling
A couple of months ago I got back into a morning stretching routine and I can tell it’s helped. Ironically the day of my injury I didn’t stretch…..perhaps there is a lesson for me in this! Foam rolling and I have never been great friends as it hurts. However knowing it’s good for me, I buckled down and rolled out my calf. It certainly helped – perhaps I’m a convert…….
4. Don’t go back too early
Take your time before going running again – I had 2 weeks of rest before I started again – building up with gentle walking. I spent time ‘testing’ the leg – knowing that taking care now will mean a better recovery in the long run.